


Summer Holiday

by lily_pearl (lilyandjoey), lilyandjoey



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Camping, F/M, HP: EWE, Post-War, wild swimming
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-05-14
Updated: 2010-05-14
Packaged: 2017-10-09 10:53:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,712
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/86492
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lilyandjoey/pseuds/lily_pearl, https://archiveofourown.org/users/lilyandjoey/pseuds/lilyandjoey
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It had only been a few days (and there was still a week to go) but Charlie was seriously regretting agreeing to come on the family holiday …</p>
            </blockquote>





	Summer Holiday

**Author's Note:**

> Originally written for weasley_fest.

When Charlie woke at 6am it was already shaping up to be a scorcher of a day. He quietly slipped out of bed and into a pair of shorts, picking up his battered sandals on his way out of the tent. He stopped just outside to put the sandals on, and then stretched slowly. He looked around at the ring of tents in the clearing, glad to see that there were no signs of life yet. He headed off into the woods. He was sure that there was a stream off to the West and he was hoping to find it.

The further Charlie got from the clearing, the better he felt. It had only been a few days (and there was still a week to go) but he was seriously regretting agreeing to come on the family holiday. He had foolishly and mistakenly thought that his siblings would be less loud and annoying as adults than they had been as kids. Big misjudgement there. Largely because Charlie had forgotten that the family had grown considerably over the years.

Bill was now married with a small child, George had brought his girlfriend and Ron had followed suit. Percy was conspicuous in his absence but that was ostensibly due to his hatred of camping. Charlie suspected that Percy wasn’t feeling up to the first family holiday without Fred. He didn’t hold it against him – it was proving difficult for everyone.

Charlie had also forgotten the honorary Weasleys when picturing a small family holiday. Harry himself may not have been very loud, but he had insisted on bringing his little godson. Charlie thought it was brilliant that Andromeda Tonks had agreed to it, and suspected that his mother may have meddled a little in order to help things along. Hermione, the other honorary Weasley, seemed just as enthusiastic about the holiday as Charlie. He knew that she had been left with no family after the war, but he didn’t know the circumstances. There had never been an opportune moment to ask, so he hadn’t. In a completely unprecedented move which had shocked almost everybody, when Ron and Hermione broke off their extremely short-lived relationship two years ago his mum had been insistent that Hermione was still part of the family.

With such a large group of people, there was absolute mayhem. The two toddlers demanded the attention of Bill, Fleur, Harry and Charlie’s parents. Ginny was following Harry around trying to impress him by helping with little Teddy and Victoire. Charlie was about ready to smack both of them round the head: Ginny for being pathetic; and Harry for being oblivious. George was mostly pre-occupied with Angelina and Ron was, of course, mostly pre-occupied with Lavender. Unfortunately, Charlie’s mum didn’t like Lavender and was therefore being extra nice to Hermione. This in turn irritated Lavender and made Hermione uncomfortable.

Charlie, not having any specific person/people to occupy him, found himself observing everyone and stepping into conversations to diffuse tension and prevent the inevitable fireworks. He felt exhausted and didn’t know how he was going to get through the next week. He planned to hide and chill out for a bit before the circus began again.

To his surprise, Charlie found that he was not the only one up this early. Hermione was sitting under a tree about a hundred yards from the clearing. She looked so pretty and peaceful, with her hair down and dappled sunlight streaming down through the leaves. As he walked towards she looked up from her book and smiled.

"Looks like I'm not the only early bird," she said cheerfully.

Charlie laughed quietly.

"I can't sleep past six," he said.

"Me neither," Hermione replied. "It's like I've got a built-in alarm clock.

"I think there's a stream over that way," Charlie said with a vague wave of his hand, "and I thought I might go for a swim. Coming?"

Hermione thought for a moment, then closed the book and held out her hand for Charlie to help her up. He grinned as he obliged, then headed off in the direction he had indicated. Initially, Hermione was following behind, but as the path widened out they were able to walk side by side.

"Enjoying the camping trip?" Charlie asked for want of anything else to say.

Hermione was silent for a moment.

"I don't think this really counts as camping," she said eventually.

Charlie looked at her in confusion.

"We're sleeping in tents in the woods. How is that not camping?" He asked.

Hermione smiled.

"I know," she said slowly, "but magical tents feel a bit like cheating. You put them up with magic and you've got real beds and a kitchen! It takes all the fun out of it. You put Muggle tents up by hand and argue over the instructions. They're the same size on the inside as they look from the outside. You sleep on a mat in a sleeping bag and cook over an open fire. I know it sounds a bit rubbish, but I think it's a lot more fun."

Charlie stopped walking and looked at her as if seeing her for the first time.

"I know I was rambling on a bit but I'm not that crazy, Charlie!" she said in exasperation.

"No, I just – have you ever been to a dragon reserve?" he asked.

"What?" Hermione asked, bewildered by the non-sequitur.

"You'd love it," Charlie said by way of explanation, "because we often camp without magic. Dragons are very sensitive to magic and very temperamental, so we try not to piss them off too much."

Hermione smiled at him, the first genuine smile he'd seen from her on the trip, and Charlie couldn't help but smile back. After a long moment, she broke eye contact and Charlie pulled himself together and started walking again. They soon found the stream he had been looking for. It looked too small for swimming, but paddling and splashing about were definitely options.

Hermione found a large flat rock to put her things on. She put down her book, slipped off her sandals and placed them neatly on the rock. Charlie watched as she unbuttoned her white shirt to reveal a patterned bikini top underneath. She folded the shirt neatly before adding it to the pile on the rock. As he watched her do the same with her shorts, Charlie mentally chastised himself for staring.

Hermione deftly plaited her hair, turning to face him as she did so.

"Hurry up!" she teased as she secured the plait with an elastic she had apparently kept on her wrist.

Charlie looked down at his battered old shorts and sandals.

"I'm ready," he said, kicking off the sandals as he spoke.

Hermione started laughing and covered her mouth with her hand.

"You were planning on skinny-dipping!" she shrieked.

"I was going alone," Charlie protested.

Hermione put her hands on her hips and gave him a dubious look.

"You invited me," she pointed out.

Charlie felt a surge of confidence. She didn't sound averse to the idea of skinny-dipping with him. And he had definitely caught her looking him up and down a few times this morning. He shrugged and started unbuttoning his shorts. Hermione squealed and covered her eyes.

"Calm down, love," Charlie said cheekily, "I'll keep my boxers on."

He dropped his shorts casually on the grass and waded into the stream. Hermione followed shortly after, squealing again at the temperature of the water. When they were waist deep, Hermione splashed Charlie playfully. He splashed back and the water fight escalated until Charlie dunked Hermione under. She came up spluttering and determined to return the favour.

Unfortunately that was easier said than done. She was very slight while Charlie was stocky. He was also very muscular from years of strenuous exercise and manual labour. After her rather creative attempts to knock Charlie's legs from under him failed, Hermione jumped on his back. Just as she wrapped her arms and legs around him, Charlie suddenly gave in. He deliberately went under and took her with him.

They waded back out of the stream and collapsed on the grass, tired and laughing. It was a nice feeling, being dried slowly by the morning sun. Charlie was close to drifting off to sleep, the most relaxed he'd been all week, when Hermione gasped. He sat up quickly.

"It's nearly ten!" she exclaimed. "The others will be up and wondering where we are."

"Relax," Charlie said as he stood up and stretched.

Hermione looked dubious.

"Hermione, my siblings are all lazy, remember? And the girls take ages getting ready. Mum will be making breakfast and Dad will be keeping Victoire and Teddy amused. They won't notice we're missing for at least an hour."

Hermione relaxed visibly and Charlie grinned at her. She smiled back and walked over to the rock where she had left her things. Charlie picked up his shorts from where they lay crumpled in the grass and pulled them on, glad that his boxers had mostly dried out. He slipped on his sandals and watched as Hermione dressed and smoothed down her hair. She turned and caught him staring.

"How do I look?" she asked with a grin as she twirled for him.

Charlie's mouth went dry. He thought of Fleur, Lavender and Angelina back at the camp spending ages getting ready. It seemed like such a waste of time. In her practical clothes with wet hair and no make up, Hermione looked perfect.

"You look beautiful," Charlie choked out.

Hermione stopped laughing and looked up at him as he took a few steps closer. He knew she was trying to work out if he was joking and he couldn't bear the thought that she might find this funny.

He closed the gap between them and kissed her, hard, and was intensely relieved when she kissed back. All other thoughts flew out of his head as he lost himself in the sensations of her lips, her teeth, and her tongue. Her body felt small and soft in his arms and her hands were warm on his back. They broke apart, breathing heavily, and he relaxed his grip but didn't let her go.

"Same time tomorrow?" he asked quietly.

"Definitely," she whispered.


End file.
